


Silent Night

by susieboo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cemetery, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Drabble, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst, One Shot, POV Second Person, Post-Canon, Sad Luna, Snow, Supportive Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 08:10:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5532086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/susieboo/pseuds/susieboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You want to help her, but you don't know how. So you sit with her in silence, and wait for her to speak, as the snow falls around you.</p>
<p>[Luna/Harry. Second person from Harry's POV. Christmas oneshot. Written for a Tumblr secret Santa.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Plant_Murderer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plant_Murderer/gifts).



A light snow is falling as you make your way through the graveyard, pulling your cloak tighter around you and looking down at her footprints, glad that the snow hasn't covered them yet. You smile slightly when you see the dark red sweater Molly made for you this year -- a Gryffindor lion. She'd sent it, along with a blue sweater with a Ravenclaw eagle for Luna. When you handed the package to her, Luna smiled and put it on, but her smile didn't quite reach those shining silver eyes.

 

You and Luna have only been together for about seven months, and this is your first Christmas together. You were planning a big party - one with all your friends and family - but you quickly realized that Luna didn't want that. Disappointed, but trying to hide it, you'd smiled and told her that that was fine, that you two could just have a small New Year's party instead. 

 

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said, sitting down at the table next to you. "I just don't like to make a huge deal over Christmas."

 

Before you could stop yourself, you asked, "Why not?"

 

She'd shrugged. "My father and I never really did anything fun on Christmas - it was just another day to us."

 

You'd nodded and said "alright", but you got the sense that that wasn't really all there was to it. Luna, normally the most straightforward person you know, seemed to be withholding something from you for the very first time ever. You figured she'll tell you when she's good and ready. But she hasn't yet, which worries you some.

 

You had a nice, quiet Christmas dinner, exchanged presents with her and sat by the fire, enjoying her company. You were glad to see she was enjoying herself, but couldn't help but feel slightly worried when she said she was going for a walk. That was nearly forty minutes ago. Finally, when she didn't return, you decided to see if you could find her, following her footprints in the snow. 

 

You finally come up to the graveyard, the one where you first visited your own parents' grave, all those Christmases ago. You don't come by here often - usually just on Halloween to pay your respects. 

 

You feel your heart sink when you see Luna among the headstones, sitting on a small stone bench in front of a grave. Suddenly, you understand, and you wonder how this possibility never occurred to you before. The two of you haven't discussed Pandora Lovegood's death much - Luna clearly misses her, but says that there's no point in wasting time on tears. "I'll see her again, one day," she always says. Usually, you leave it at that.

 

Tonight, though, you don't. You can't. The sight of Luna, sitting there by herself in the snowy night, moves you to walk up and sit silently next to her, intent on not speaking until she does, afraid of breaking some silent vigil. You sit there, reading the headstone:

 

_PANDORA VIVIENNE LOVEGOOD_

_6 May 1965 - 25 December 1990_

_Mother, Wife, Scholar, Friend_

_"Die, my love? That's the last thing I shall ever do!"_

 

You can't help but smile a little bit. Though you've never met the woman, you can see her influence in Luna, even now.

 

After a minute, she says, "...Hi."

 

"Hi," you say. There's a pause. "...Are you alright?"

 

Luna shrugs. "I think so. I mean, I will be. I just always like to take a few minutes to... remember."

 

"...I'm here for you."

 

"I know you are." She sighs and leans her head against your shoulder. You wrap an arm around her, glad she's willing to let you in. You know all too well how shutting people out only makes the grief all the more unbearable. "I'm sorry I didn't just tell you. I just... I feel stupid for grieving her for so long after she's gone. Mum wouldn't want me to. She would want me to just... get on with my life. And I do, most of the time. But it's hard, especially on Christmas, since everyone's with their families and I'm... well, I have Dad. But for most of my life, that was it, and..." She trails off.

 

You hold her a bit tighter. "That's not stupid. Not at all."

 

"...Thank you."

 

"You're welcome." You press a kiss to the top of her head. "And it's not just you and your dad anymore. You have me, and Ron, and Hermione and Ginny and all the Weasleys, and all of the D.A. ... we all love you, Luna. We're your family, too."

 

Luna actually smiles now. A small one, but a smile nonetheless. "Couldn't have asked for a better one."

 

You two sit for a bit longer, saying nothing. You want to help her, but you don't know how. So you sit with her in silence, and wait for her to speak, as the snow falls around you. In the December night, the graveyard looks almost alive, the snow swirling and twirling in the wind, the streetlights shining off the cold, snow-blanketed Earth.

 

Finally, she lifts her head from your shoulder and takes your hand, intertwining your fingers and squeezing.

 

You say, "I love you," and you mean it more than you've ever meant anything.

 

She smiles. "I know you do. I love you, too." Luna slowly stands, still holding your hand. "Let's go home."

 

You begin the walk home, huddled close together in the cold, crisp air.

 

The church bells begin ringing out, just as she whispers, "Merry Christmas."

**Author's Note:**

> A very Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate it. For those of you that don't, happy solstice! And for all of us, here's to hoping for a magical 2016!


End file.
